Anna Lea Merritt [1844-1930] American painter, was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of Joseph Lea a manufacturer. She studied art in Italy, Germany and Paris, ultimately settling England in the late 1860s. She married Henry Merrit, artist, and critic, who was twenty two years her senior. Tragically he died three months after the wedding. Anna Merritt edited a selection of her husband’s writings for publication. She built up a thriving practice as a portrait painter, in which artistic sphere she was highly talented, her picture of two little sisters, Jacqueline and Isura Loraine, for example is highly accomplished. In later years she often wintered in Egypt. She lived in Hampshire.
